Ali's Return
by Ali Wenstern
Summary: Sequel to "Child of the Aliens" Ali died saving the Xenomorph race. But that isn't what the Company wanted; they brought her back and now they have to pay the price...
1. Chapter 1

"_**We need to get her heart beating again," the Colonel said as the doctors worked at reviving the dead girl, "She isn't a normal human girl and we need to get answers".**_

"_**We are doing the best we can but she has been dead for a day, I don't think there is any way that we can revive her," one of the doctors replied.**_

_**No sooner had he said that when another doctor pressed the shockers into the girl's chest. With a beep the girl's body jumped from the shock. The heart monitor began beeping and the girl began to breath. **_

_**She opened her eyes slowly and stared up at the doctors with light green eyes.**_

Colonel Williams stared at Jordan from across the room and attempted to smile. Jordan glared at him with hard, cold, green eyes. He leaned back and sighed. Jordan had been brought back to life only a couple of hours ago and instead of being grateful she had sat there, staring coldly. For the last hour, Colonel Williams had been attempting to get Jordan to help him find Ali. But she had, so far, told him nothing. He decided for now that he would just let her go and hope that she would lead them to where Ali was hiding.

"I don't think you are going to be much more help to me Jordan. So I have decided to let you go," the Colonel finally said.

Jordan narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. He leaned forward and un-cuffed her hands from the arms of the chair. She rubbed some feeling back into her wrists and then hurried to the door. She flung the door open and turned left down the hallway. But a voice said behind her, "The exit is the other way. Take a left and then go through the lobby, past the receptionist and your clear to the mountains."

Jordan looked back at him and gave a slight smile. She ran down the way he described and found herself outside the building staring at some mountains. She thought that it would be a little hard to get back to the orphanage before nightfall. She looked to her right and saw a dirt bike. She climbed on awkwardly and looked for an ignition key. She smiled when she saw that there was a key still in the ignition. She turned it on quickly and the motor let out a roar. She spied a helmet near the bike and placed it on her head, clipping the straps under her chin. Then, taking a deep breath she revved the engine and shifted it into gear. The bike let out another roar and jerked forward.

The bike shot forward and Jordan struggled to get control before she crashed. She quickly put the brakes on and the bike slowed down to a stop. She let out a ragged breath and stared the engine slowly this time, giving gas to it gradually.

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	2. Chapter 2

By the time Jordan reached the orphanage, night had fallen. She parked the bike right outside the orphanage and walked into the front hallway and looked around. Remnants of the battle that had taken place only a few days ago were everywhere and Jordan had to hold her breath to keep from crying. She took a deep breath and walked through the orphanage. She passed the kitchen and turned back, seeing something. 

Jordan slowly stepped into the kitchen and walked down the rows of tables. In the middle was a dark figure lying on the ground. Jordan crouched down and tried to see through the darkness. She ran to the side wall and turned on a light switch.

The lights slowly flickered on, illuminating the kitchen and allowing Jordan to see who the figure was. She screamed and ran forward when she saw that it was Ali. She hurried to Ali's body and fell down next to her. Ali was staring up at the ceiling with a look of pain on her face; her eyes were empty and glassy. She had a slight smile on her face, as if something had pleased her before she died. Jordan looked down towards Ali's chest and saw that there was a gaping hole in it and there was dark blood around the wound. Ali's blood was also on the ground around her and there were holes burned into it. The normal stages of decomposition had not seemed to have started and Jordan guessed that it had something to do with Ali's alien DNA.

There was the click of a gun behind her and Jordan spun around to see that the entrance to the kitchen was full of soldiers. Colonel Williams was standing in the front, leaning on his cane. He smiled at Jordan as she stared at them in shock.

"I must thank you," The Colonel said, "You have led us straight to Ali. We'll just have to deal with her being dead though; in fact, it couldn't work out better in our favor. We will have the alien child on our side and we get to try our first human cloning." He walked forward and tried to extend a hand toward Jordan but she backed away. "Calm down," he said reassuringly, "We aren't going to hurt you. We want to keep you safe."

"To hell you are, you just want to experiment on me," Jordan shouted.

"No, that isn't it in the slightest. You see, Ali will need a friend when we bring her back," The Colonel replied as one of the soldiers walked up behind the Colonel and crouched down to pick up Ali.

"No!" Jordan shouted and she ran at the soldier. Colonel Williams' cane came into contact with her stomach and she fell backward.

Two more soldiers walked up and attempted to grab Jordan. She jumped back and ran out the other end of the kitchen and hurried down the hallway. She didn't really know where she was going but next thing she knew, she had burst into the Room, a giant empty room where the children of the orphanage used to play in. Now it was a grim scene with blood splattered walls, remains of the children from the first alien attack. Jordan continued running through, intending to get out through one of the dorms. She was in such a hurry that she didn't look where she was going and she tripped over a small object. She turned back to see what it was and saw that it was a small human skeleton.

Suddenly, the soldiers ran into the room and Jordan turned to look at them. She backed away from them quickly until she hit something. She looked over her shoulder slightly to see a giant alien with a large crest on its head.

The alien hissed and charged at the soldiers. They screamed and tried to run back through the doorway but the Queen caught up to them. They let out screams of anguish as the Queen tore them apart.

Jordan stood frozen, watching the alien Queen feast on the dead soldiers and realized that it was a different Queen from the one she had last seen. She remembered the hole in Ali's chest that something had appeared to have forced itself out of; the Queen must have come from her.

After the alien Queen had finished with the soldiers she approached Jordan._Why isn't she attacking?_ Jordan thought. The Queen hissed and walked closer to Jordan until she was only a few inches away.

_**Ali…….the time has come………for a new Queen to be born……I keep the egg with……me at all times but now……it is time for…….her to be born. What I……am about to ask……might sound absurd……but I want you to be……the host for the……new Queen. The new Queen……will be like you, have……your memories and your feelings……and will even think……like you.**_

The Queen hissed and then nudged Jordan with her head before turning and walking out of the Room. Jordan took a deep breath and followed the Queen to the basement. The basement had changed since Jordan had last been there. The new Queen walked over to a throne and climbed into it but Jordan noticed another throne. The other throne was old and unused, the one the former Queen had once inhabited. There were five or six aliens lying around and a few more had just arrived through an air duct at the other side of the basement. They looked up at Jordan as she walked in and one of them hissed. The Queen turned to face them and they quieted down but still stared at Jordan uncertainly.

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	3. Chapter 3

A man in his mid-thirties walked into Colonel Williams' office and shut the door behind him, "You wanted to see me father?" he asked. Colonel Williams looked up and smiled as the other man sat down in a chair. 

"Ah, Trae thanks for coming."

"What do you want?" Trae asked

"We have cloned our first child. She has had a rather disturbing past that we don't want her remembering. That is why I can't be the one to see her. But you are the perfect one for the job. She needs love and care from a family," The Colonel explained.

"But why do you want me?" Trae asked

The Colonel sighed and said, "Well, you do work at the day care center in the city and so you are used to working around kids. Not to mention you were once a father yourself."

Trae looked away when the Colonel said that. The Colonel sighed and said, "I know how hard it must be, seeing that you lost both your wife and child in that car accident. Trust me, I think about my granddaughter often. But just think how this girl feels, she has no family."

Trae put his head in his hands and rested them on his knees. He sighed and then said, "Fine, I'll talk to her." He got up and turned to walk out of the room. But his father's voice stopped him, "When you do talk to her, make sure you don't mention I'm your father. I was in her past and I don't want to trigger any old memories." Trae nodded and walked out of the room.

Trae walked up to the large white door. Two guards were standing stationed in front. They smiled when they saw Trae walk up and one of them stepped forward to a small keyboard by the door. He typed onto it and, with a click, the door unlocked. Trae couldn't help but wonder why there were guards stationed outside and why they need to guard the girl inside. But then, he took a deep breath and stepped up to the door, turned the handle, and quickly stepped inside.

A young girl was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. She looked up as Trae entered the room and Trae stared into her eyes. He was surprised to see that her eyes were a deep, dark blue; so dark that they almost appeared black. She wore a long black dress and her black hair was hanging down and came to her waist. She didn't look as young as the Colonel had implied, she seemed to be around 13 or 14 years old. Trae walked over to her but she backed away quickly with a look of fear.

Trae stopped walking as he watched the child scurry away. He knew exactly how to handle this type of situation for he had to do this many times with the children at the day care center. Trae sat down in the middle of the room and pulled out a deck of cards. He shuffled the cards slowly and then placed one of the cards down, facing up, and six more cards to the right of it, facing down. Then he placed a card face-up on top of a face-down card and next to the face-up card. Then lay five more cards, facing down on top of the five remaining face down cards. He repeated this step until he had seven cards facing up at him on top of a different number of face-down cards. As he began the solitaire game, he heard the girl moving closer to him. He continued playing as the girl crept nearer and nearer.

Trae stopped and slowly stretched his hand out in front of him, toward the girl. She backed up against the wall and gazed at him like a frightened child. Trae sat there, with his hand outstretched to the girl. She stared at it for a minute and she looked up slowly at Trae who smiled reassuringly. The girl slowly stretched out her hand and placed it in Trae's hand. "My name is Trae; do you know what yours is?" Trae asked. The girl seemed to think for a moment and then shook her head.

"Well, I think, that it might be Ali," Trae said, not taking his eyes of the child.

"Ali?" the girl asked in a soft voice, "My name…is Ali?"

"Yes," Trae said and Ali smiled, "I want to help you," Trae then said.

"Do you know what happened to me?" Ali asked slowly and she looked up with eyes full of confusion, "Do you know where my mommy and daddy are?"

Trae hesitated before saying, "I really don't know, Ali. But, if you want you can pretend I'm your daddy."

"I don't want parents," Ali said and her eyes momentarily flashed with hatred. Trae wondered what had happened that would cause her to hate her parents. But then he was more concerned about what would happen if she did remember? He asked carefully, "Do you remember your parents?"

Ali shook her head no. Just then the door behind him opened and one of the guards stepped inside, the session was over. Trae stood up, surprised at how quickly time had gone. But then he felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt and he looked down to see Ali holding on tight to his hand.

"You will come back, right?" Ali asked and her eyes no longer held hate, but loneliness.

Trae smiled and crouched down in front of her, "I promise I'll be back tomorrow. And I might even be able to bring you a teddy bear if you would like."

Ali's eyes momentarily flashed and Trae could have sworn that he had seen the hint of hatred again.

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	4. Chapter 4

The next day Ali was waiting excitedly for Trae and as the guard let him in she ran up to hug him. 

"Hey! How have you been?" Trae asked with a laugh as he placed the bag he was carrying down.

"I've been okay," Ali replied as she leaned over to see what was in the bag. She pulled out the stuffed bear and a Monopoly board game. She tucked the bear under her arm as she looked with wonder at the board game. She took the lid off and touched the playing pieces gently. Trae watched her for a minute and then asked, "Have you played this game before?"

"I can't remember," Ali replied.

"What do you mean you can't remember?" Trae asked. Ali didn't look up but she placed the pieces back down and walked away from the game, still holding on to the bear. Trae followed her as she walked over to the bed in the corner. She turned to him as she reached the bed and asked, "Do you know what happened to me?"

Trae knew that it had been bad but didn't know the complete extent of what had happened to this little girl. So he answered truthfully, "I really don't know sweetie."

Ali hung her head and whispered, "Last night I had a bad dream, I was in a white room and there was something next to me. It was hard to tell what it was because it was really blurry. But I could defiantly tell that it walked on four legs, not two."

Trae sat down slowly on the bed next to her and placed his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against him and said, "That isn't the only thing. I sometimes see the face of a girl about my age in my mind. She looks sad about something and she sometimes says things."

"What does she say?" Trae asked

"I don't know, she moves her mouth but no sound comes out," Ali replied.

"Can you describe what this girl looks like?" Trae prodded gently.

Ali thought for a moment and then answered, "She has long dark brown hair and really bright green eyes. She had a really pretty smile too."

As the guard walked in at the end of the session Trae turned to Ali, "Is there a special game that you want me to bring for next time?"

Ali thought for a moment and said, "Can you teach me to play that card came you played yesterday?"

"Sure, I think I can find a lonely deck of cards around here somewhere," Trae answered and Ali smiled happily.

As Trae walked into the room, the first thing he noticed was Ali on her bed. She was singing softly to herself and was rocking the bear slowly in her arms. But Trae let out a gasp as he looked at the bear; the head had been ripped off. Trae looked around as he walked to Ali and saw the head across the room. Judging by the trail of fluff that had fallen out, Trae guessed that the head had been thrown after it had been torn off.

"Did you do that?" Trae asked.

"Do what?" Ali asked

"Did you rip your bear's head off right after you got it?"

Ali shrugged her slender shoulders and said, "I guess I did, it just sort of happened, though." Trae stared at her in shock for a moment but then she asked, "Did you bring the cards?"

"Yes, I have them right here," Trae replied, holding up the deck of cards and then said, "Maybe I can find someone that will sew your bear's head back on."

Ali just shrugged, as if it didn't matter to her.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded through the quite room. Ali's head shot up but Trae didn't pay any attention to it; he was used to unusual crashes and banging around the building. But Ali was disturbed by something else and after awhile Trae heard it too; a strange and almost eerie hissing noise. Ali got up and walked to one of the walls; she placed an ear up to the wall and listened into the hallway beyond. She could hear the sound of something fast running toward her room.

The sound of screaming could be heard right outside the door of Ali's room and Trae turned sharply when he heard them. The door suddenly began smoking and with a sizzle the door completely disintegrated as two strange animals walked in. The two animals had no visible eyes and their heads extended down to the base of their neck. One of them had four dorsal spikes on its back and was a dark blue color and walked on its back legs. The other didn't have dorsal spikes, was brown and walked on four legs. The two aliens slowly made their way into the room and, paying no attention to Trae, began walking towards Ali.

Ali stood there, frozen, as she stared at the two aliens approaching her. The one that walked on four legs was the one that caught her attention. Something about it seemed familiar, but she couldn't think of what. Suddenly, like a movie going in fast forward, clear images began shooting in front of her eyes.

_Her in her room, crying, and an alien-like creature walking out of the darkness_

_Her calling the alien Timothy_

_Her running down a dark hallway with Timothy and laughing_

_Her and Timothy hunting a human_

_Her hugging a giant alien, calling it Mother_

_Her crying over Timothy's fallen body_

"No!" Trae yelled and he jumped in front of Ali, interrupting the flow of memories, and tried to protect her from the aliens. But a look of shock came across his face as he felt nails dig into his back. He fell to the ground and looked up at Ali with shock. She stared at his dark red blood that covered her hands and smiled darkly.

"Ali, what are you doing?" Trae asked. She ignored him and walked to the two aliens. They hissed lovingly to her and she smiled. She wrapped her arms around both of the alien's necks and closed her eyes.

"I remember," she said softly, not really to Trae, but to herself, "I remember everything. I remember being hated by people and I remember my Mother, the Alien Queen."

"But I loved you Ali, I didn't hate you, I treated you like my own child," Trae shouted desperately.

"Yes, that may be so," Ali said, opening her eyes and turning back to Trae, "but you were under orders, right?" Trae didn't respond and Ali laughed. As she turned and walked away the aliens began to move in for the kill.

"No! Leave him here," Ali said. The two aliens hissed in annoyance but they stopped advancing and walked out of the room. Ali turned back to Trae before leaving and her eyes softened momentarily but that look only lasted a minute before being replaced with the dark hatred that Trae had seen flash in her eyes yesterday.

As Ali walked she realized the aliens were following her more willingly than they used to. Before they would only listen to her if it was convenient to them, but, back in the room with Trae, they had obeyed her almost immediately.

The aliens wanted to leave as quickly as possible but there was something Ali needed to do. She wandered around for a while the aliens followed behind. A large door with a small gold plaque in the center drew Ali's eyes. She smiled, opened the door and walked in. The man sitting in the chair turned to face her. "I figured they'd come for you soon. I was hoping that you would be on our side by the time they came," The Colonel said.

"Yeah, I figured that was your goal. But let me make something clear; I hate humans with a deep passion and even if you wipe away my memory and make me live with people forever, I'll still hate them." As soon as she had said that one of the aliens stepped forward and looked at Ali, as if waiting for permission. "Kill him, he is too old to become a host," Ali said as she turned to the door. The alien hissed in reply and Ali could hear the solid thud as the alien's second mouth shot through the Colonel's head.

She walked out of the building with the aliens and the Runner Alien offered his back to her. She shook her head and let out a joyful laugh and started to run down the mountain with the aliens hissing happily behind her. She ran faster and faster, enjoying the rush of the air on her face. The two aliens ran alongside her, one on either side.

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	5. Chapter 5

When they had reached the end of the mountains and the beginning of the town the two aliens split away from Ali and hurried to the roof tops to continue the trek there. Ali was sad to watch them leave, she had hoped they could stay at her side but she knew that it would only lead to trouble. 

No one paid attention to Ali as she walked through the city which pleased her. But after a few minutes she got bored so she decided to play a game with herself. She looked around at the people around her and tried to decide which would be good hosts for aliens. She found a couple of very good candidates and made a note to come after them if she ever went hunting again.

The bustle of the small town died down as Ali left the city boarders and continued down the dirt road that lead to the orphanage. The two aliens met up with her there and she smiled as the three of them made their way to the orphanage.

As they passed through the main entrance gates Ali looked off to the side and saw the small garden that she had buried the facehugger so long ago. The garden was overrun with weeds and Ali couldn't help but smile. With no help the flowers were easy prey for the weeds, just like people were easy prey for aliens. Turning back to the orphanage, Ali looked up at the giant doors. Taking a deep breath she followed the aliens inside.

Ali looked around as she walked through the orphanage. The bodies of fallen aliens were gone and the bodies of the soldiers were gone too. She slowed down when she saw a burned hole in the ground and knew that an alien had fallen here.

Ali found herself walking away from the aliens and toward one room. As she stepped inside she could see long rows of tables, the kitchen. Ali walked down one of the rows and stopped, staring at a spot in the ground that had a hole burned into it. This was the spot where she had died saving the alien race.

_**Ali ate the meal in front of her as she tried coaxing the Queen out of her. Suddenly she felt a painful spasm shoot up her body. She smiled and whispered, "Come on, you can do it!" As if in response the pain intensified and Ali fell to the ground screaming. Her chest burst right in between her rib cage and a small head poked out. Ali grabbed it and pulled the Queen out of her, screaming as she did. Ali took several deep breaths and stroked the top of the baby's head as it let out a high pitched screech. But her strength was failing her and she couldn't hold her hand up. As her hand fell, Ali heard the Queen say, Thank you.**_

_My voice,_ Ali thought, _The Queen spoke with my voice._ The sound of soft feet on the tile floor reached her ears and she turned around to see the Runner Alien standing next to her. The Runner Alien nudged her with his head and hissed softly. Ali turned away from the scene and followed the two aliens as they lead her down to the basement.

The first thing Ali noticed when she walked down the stairs was the vacant throne where the Queen once sat. Ali had to struggle to hold back tears as she looked at the throne.

_Welcome home, Mother_ a voice said softly in Ali's head. _That's my voice_, Ali thought as she turned around and saw the new Queen sitting in a new throne made of her own saliva, leaving the other one empty in honor of the former Queen. Ali walked up to the other Queen and gently touched the crest on top of her head. The Queen let out a gentle hiss and said, _Mother, I am glad you are alright. _

"Why did you call me mother?" Ali asked

_Because you are my mother, you gave me life_

"Is that why the aliens listen and obey me?" Ali asked. The Queen nodded and spoke, _Yes, you are the savior of our race and they hold you in a high place of honor._

"I want to thank you, for coming and getting me. And you chose the alien retrievers well," Ali said with a grin.

_I figured that by having a Runner alien come for you it would remind you of Timothy. But I did not mean bring back painful memories, so if that is what happened, I am sorry._

Ali shook her head and replied, "No, in fact it made me happy to be able to remember him."

_I am glad that it pleased you. And Jordan is here as well, she is gathering humans right now but she should be here soon._

"Jordan is out hunting?" Ali asked, slightly confused.

_Yes, she cannot hunt with aliens because they will try to kill her when they are not under my control, but she can go by herself, she is actually quite good at it too. And as long as she stays away from the eggs she is perfectly safe here._

Ali looked around and just now realized that the floor was littered with eggs. She also noticed that there were about four or five people hanging from the walls. As she was looking a door flew open and Jordan came running into the room. She was being chased by three aliens. Two more came out of the dark basement and came after her too. The Queen let out high pitched screeches and hisses. The two that had just joined stopped and backed away as the Queen hissed at them. But the other three ignored their Queen and continued chasing after Jordan. Ali ran to the aliens but one of them turned back and knocked her away with his tail. Ali went flying backward and hit a wall. As stars jumped in front of her eyes, Ali looked in the direction of the hissing. Jordan was still running and seemed, for the moment, to be unharmed. _But why?_ Ali thought, _Why haven't they gone in for the kill?_ Suddenly the answer hit her; they were herding Jordan to the egg patch. Jordan didn't seem to realize what they were doing until she saw them backing off. Jordan looked down and saw that she was surrounded on all sides by leathery eggs. Ali started to get up but her head swam and the room spun. She fell back to her knees as everything grew dark.

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	6. Chapter 6

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When Ali awoke the aliens that had been responsible for the attack were clustered around the Queen. Ali couldn't hear what she was telling them but by the way they occasionally flinched the Queen wasn't happy. Ali looked around and saw Jordan lying in a corner of the room. There was a facehugger still on her face and she was breathing slowly. 

"Why?!" Ali shouted as she forced herself to turn away from Jordan, "Why did they attack her?"

The Queen turned to look at her before saying, _Because I told them to._

"You told them to attack Jordan?!" Ali shouted

_No, I did not tell them to attack Jordan specifically, I simply told them to bring me hosts,_ the Queen replied, _They must have met up with Jordan on her way back and since they could not recognize her, confused her with prey._

"But then why didn't they stop when you told them to?" Ali said

_Because they were only relying on their instincts at that point._

"What does instinct have to do with this?" Ali asked

_I asked them to go get hosts, when they found one they instinctively attacked. Even if though I ordered them to stop, they could not. They could not stop their instincts. You did the same thing._

"When?" Ali shot back

_A long time ago, when you had first brought Jordan to the Hive and was given the task by the former Queen to go bring her hosts. When you offered to take Jordan along, Jordan passed out from the beating that her father had recently put her through. You told the former Queen to look after Jordan because you wanted to get the hosts the Queen needed. But when she protested, you did not listen and went right along._

"How did you know about all that?" Ali asked, slightly amazed.

The Queen let out a gurgle and Ali realized that she was laughing,_Mother, have you forgotten what happens to a Queen when she bursts out of her host? She gets all the memories and thoughts of the host. The only reason I knew all of that was because you had been my host._

"But what I did was different," Ali said

_Oh? How so?_ The Queen asked when Ali didn't reply the Queen continued, _You instinctively left Jordan because you wanted to sustain the Hive and help out the Queen. That is the same thing that the aliens that attacked Jordan did._

Ali tried thinking of ways that she could deny any similarity between what she did and what the other aliens did, but she could think of nothing. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she walked away from her daughter and went to a spot clear of eggs. Sitting down she hugged herself and cried softly. As she cried the Runner Alien walked up next to her and lay down, wrapping his tail around her body. "Timothy," Ali whispered.

For the rest of the day Ali ignored her daughter and the other aliens around her. The Runner Alien stayed with her the whole day. Every time she would start crying the Runner Alien would hiss gently and nudge her with his head. After a while Ali decided to name the alien. She thought for a moment on what would be a good name for it and then she thought of one, "I'll call you Timothy Junior, or TJ for short." TJ hissed and nodded, "I guess you like it," Ali said with a giggle.

Just then a loud cough split the quite air. Ali's head shot up to see Jordan with her face bare. Ali ran to her as Jordan tried to stand up. As Ali reached her, Jordan collapsed back on the ground, breathing hard. Ali found a tattered old blanket and wrapped it around Jordan as she let out a shiver.

"Jordan, I'm so sorry," Ali said as a tear fell down her cheek.

"What are you sorry for?" Jordan asked, "You didn't send those aliens on me. And I really don't blame them either. They were just reacting to me when they found me upstairs. They couldn't recognize me and so they just did the first thing they do when they see a stranger."

"But you're going to die!" Ali shouted and then added, "again."

"But, you see, I am actually not that worried about it," Jordan replied, "I mean yeah, it is a little nerve-racking that I am going to die again, and this time it will be very painful. But I'm just glad that I didn't get eaten by an alien or something, I mean at least I'll be benefiting the Hive."

"Yeah, but still," Ali replied but she didn't finish as Jordan suddenly leaned over and gasped. She placed her hand on her chest which jerked sharply. Jordan's face was suddenly contorted in pain as her body jerked again and she fell forward. TJ hissed and hurried over to Jordan and Ali just as Jordan began going into convulsions. Jordan rolled over onto her back and the blanket fell off her shoulders. Jordan's eyes flew open and her pain was easily reflected in them. She turned her head and looked over at Ali but her eyes held no recognition that it was Ali. Jordan screamed again as blood shot out of her chest. Ali screamed too as her friend went still and the chestburster forced its way out of her chest. The chestburster let out a screech and pulled itself out of Jordan's body, jumping into Ali's lap.

Ali stroked the baby alien's head as she cried. She turned around to look at the Queen. "Will this alien have Jordan's memories?" she asked.

_No_, the Queen replied, _Only Queens inherit the memories and thoughts of their host._

Ali hung her head and stared at the chestburster. Suddenly, she stood up, surprising TJ and the chestburster in her arms which ran off with a screech. "I want to bury her," Ali said, "I want to bury Jordan."

The Queen looked at her for a minute and then said, If that is what you wish. TJ will help you.

"How did you know that is what I decided to call him?" Ali asked, slightly surprised.

_I heard you giving him his name, Timothy Junior. Besides I think in the way you think, which means I would have named him the same thing._

Ali smiled, but then she said, "Thanks, but I want to do this by myself." TJ nodded in understanding and turned away, walking over to a group of aliens.

Ali bent down and picked up Jordan, surprised at how light she was, and made her way up the stairs. She reached the top and continued out to the front garden. Setting Jordan down, Ali started to pull out the weeds. It was really easy, especially with her alien strength. Within minutes she had cleared a large patch of dirt. Ali looked at the cleared out space and gasped. She had subconsciously been clearing a space next to the dead facehugger she had buried when she had been reunited with Timothy. But she forced herself to stop thinking about Timothy as she started to dig. It didn't take long before she had a shallow grave. Picking up Jordan she gently placed the body into the grave and pushed the dirt back over Jordan's lifeless form. She sat there for a few minutes, crying at having to lose her friend for the second time.


	7. Chapter 7

Dark storm clouds began rolling in and, with a flash of lightning, rain began pouring down. Ali did nothing to get out of the rain as she sat by Jordan's grave. 

_The skies are crying for Jordan too,_ she thought as she looked up at the dark clouds as another bolt of lightning lit up the horizon. She stared back at the mound of dirt as it started to turn to mud. She reached over for the weeds that she had pulled out and placed them around the growing mud heap. Her hair quickly became matted to her head and the black dress she was wearing started sticking to her skin.

Ali looked up from her work and saw something that surprised her slightly; off in the distance was a faint glow. She decided to investigate what was causing the light and why it was there. She got up and started making her way to the light. When she got closer she realized that it was coming from a small encampment of tents. Curiosity got the better of her and she continued making her way to the tents.

* * *

Trae looked down at the charts on the desk as the rain pounded on his tent and sighed. He was pretty sure this building was the place that his father said the aliens were currently living. _My father_, he thought, _killed by Ali and her stupid aliens_. As he thought about that child he clenched his fist tightly. The child had seemed ordinary and innocent until her memory returned and she became fierce and cruel. Even though she had spared him he hated her with every fiber in his being because of what she had done to his father. 

A woman walked in and stood in front of the desk. Trae looked up and said, "What is it? I am very busy right now."

The woman nodded quickly and said, "We found a survivor."

* * *

Ali sat on a chair in one of the tents; a large blanket was wrapped around her shoulders. She sipped the steaming liquid from the mug in her hands as she stared around the room. It hadn't been that hard to get in, all she did was start screaming and run to the compound. The people there came running when they heard her scream. Ali couldn't help but smile as she thought back on the memory. 

Two men had chased after her and one managed to grab her around the waist. She had kicked at them and tried to break free but eventually gave up. The man that had caught her carried her back to one of the tents and gave her a blanket and the steaming mug. When Ali first took a sip she started gagging from the bitter tasting brown liquid but, after a few sips and a small pack of sugar, she found that she really liked this beverage. It had a strong smell to it that smelled better than it had first tasted. And that is where Ali was now, smiling and looking around the tent.

Ali turned her head as the flap of the tent opened and a young woman stepped inside with a smile. Ali hid her smile and replaced it with the look of a terrified child as the woman stepped closer to her. The woman slowly pulled up a chair closer to Ali and sat down so that she faced Ali. Ali put all her energy in trying to look scared and vulnerable. After a while the woman spoke, "What is your name?" she asked. Ali looked at her, trying to pretend that she had just gotten out of a horrible ideal.

"Ali" she said but quickly regretted it. If these people were after the aliens then they might already know about her.

But the woman just smiled and said, "My name is Mary. Don't worry, you're safe now. We won't let anything happen to you."

Ali smiled slightly and said, "Can you help me with something? When I was checking out the orphanage building with a friend we got separated. I was wondering if you could help me find her."

"Why of course, just let me get some back-up," Mary said as she made her way to the front of the tent.

"No!" Ali shouted. Mary looked at her, slightly confused, so Ali said softly, "I mean, I want to find her as soon as possible, and if we get back-up it might be too late." Ali buried her face in her hands and started crying.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. We'll leave right away. Just, let me go and get a flashlight," Mary said. She left the tent and was only gone for a few minutes before returning, carrying a large flashlight in her hand. She also strapped a gun to her belt. Ali had to fight from smiling knowing the gun would do the lady no good.

Mary took Ali's hand and led her out of the tent. It was dark outside but it had stopped raining. Mary kept the flashlight off as they walked quickly and quietly, not talking until they reached the edge of the compound. They continued walking until they had almost reached the orphanage. Mary paused to turn on the flashlight then continued toward the dark building. Ali held on tight to Mary's hand, pretending to be afraid as they walked through the gates. Mary gently pried her hand out of Ali's tight grip so she could open the door. The door opened with a loud screech and Mary froze. When nothing happened, Mary opened the door all the way and stepped inside.

"Stay close to me Ali," Mary said as she slowly walked into the dark building. They walked in silence as Mary scanned the path way in front of her with the flashlight. Ominous shadows jumped out at every corner. Mary was starting to get a bad feeling about this place but she didn't want to show her fear in front of Ali. Suddenly, a dark shape on the floor caught Mary's eye. She held her breath, hoping that the shape wasn't a body. As she crouched down to look at the shape she sighed with relief; it was just a hole. Mary examined it closer and noticed that the edges of the hole were charred, as though burned.

Something suddenly rammed Mary hard in the back and the next thing she knew, she was flying forward. She screamed as she fell into the total darkness of the hole. The world rushed around her for a few seconds before she hit the ground hard. She rolled over and was able to avoid smashing the flashlight against the ground. But she paused when she realized that she had landed on something bouncy. She looked down and saw that she was on an old bed. Mary looked around slightly confused and noticed that the room was filled with rows of desks. The ground had a thick layer of dust except for two lines. The two lines came from the door and ended at the bed. Mary realized that the bed had been dragged into this room, but why? Movement from the corner of the room caught Mary's eye and she looked over. The flashlight beam shook as Mary tried to penetrate the darkness to see what was over in the corner. A soft laugh came from above and Mary tipped the flashlight up to see Ali standing over the hole, looking down. The beam of the light reflected in Ali's eyes, giving them an unusual glow.

A hiss came from the room and Mary screamed. She dug around for her gun but dropped the flashlight. The flashlight crashed on the ground and the light bulb shattered, plunging the room into total darkness. Mary let out startled breaths as she held the gun out in front of her. The gun rattled in her hand as her whole body shook. She couldn't hear anything over her breathing so she forced herself to calm down. Trying to keep as quite as possible, Mary looked around the room. Her eyes were slowly getting used to the dark and she could see the outline of the desks. Suddenly, one of the desks moved. Mary focused on it and realized that it wasn't a desk, it was a living thing. Whatever it was it moved skillfully and gracefully, weaving around the desks but staying out of aim of the gun. Mary didn't even think as she began firing off at the creature. The thing dodged all of the bullets and lept at Mary with a screech.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

From above, looking down, Ali could hear the sound of the gun firing off a few rounds and then a loud screech. She crouched down and tried to see what was going on. Mary screamed loudly from within the darkness and Ali smiled. TJ had obviously won. Ali jumped down into the room and saw Mary lying down on the bed with a large gash on her face. The gun was still in her hand and was covered in her blood. Her slow breathing told Ali that she was still alive. Standing over Mary's unconscious body was TJ he looked up as Ali approached and hissed. Ali stroked the top of his head and said, "Better get her back to the Hive before she wakes up." 

TJ hissed but Ali shook her head, "I have to go back, I don't want them to notice my absence when they discover Mary's absence." Ali had gotten used to the sounds the aliens made and was now able to distinguish what they were trying to say.

So Ali walked out of the room as TJ picked up Mary. Ali went to the left and toward the entrance of the orphanage while TJ went to the right in the direction of the basement.

It only took her five minutes to get back to her tent. Just as she pulled the blanket over her shoulders and grabbed the mug, the flap of the tent parted and three men stepped inside. Two of the men carried guns; soldiers. But the man in front shocked Ali so much that she almost dropped her mug. Standing in front of her, with dark, cold eyes was Trae.

Trae narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ali and then said, without any hesitation, "Shoot her."

Ali felt her blood run cold as she gazed up at Trae. She felt herself start to shake as one of the soldiers looked at Trae then back to her. Where they really going to kill her? She didn't bring any aliens with her so she was all alone on this. But she felt relief rush through her as the soldier said, "Sir, she's just a kid."

"No she isn't. She is evil, she must be killed!" Trae shouted.

"Sir, we will not allow you to hurt her. There is no proof that she did anything," the soldier said.

"Get out, then!" Trae said, "I need to talk to her." The soldiers looked uncertain and gazed at each other uneasily. "I'm not going to do anything; I just want to talk to her alone."

One of the soldiers muttered under his breath, obviously not trusting Trae's words, but he had no choice; he disobeyed one direct order, he knew that he couldn't disobey another. Ali watched as the two soldiers turned to leave and waited until the flap of the tent closed before turning her eyes back to Trae. She smiled darkly as Trae glared back.

"So—" Trae started to say, but then Ali spoke.

"Don't think for a second that I spared your life before because I liked you. I mean, that was the reason at first. I actually thought I cared for you, that you were special and important to me. But, no, there's more to it than that. The real reason was because it was too easy to kill you then and I was hoping that I could have a little more fun," Ali said. Her eyes flashed greedily, as though contemplating what would be the best way to kill and make it interesting at the same time.

"You may have everyone else thinking you're a harmless little girl, but you can't fool me that easily," Trae said, not taking his eyes of Ali.

"I don't expect to," Ali replied, "In fact, this couldn't work out better in my favor. While you spend all your time trying to convince everyone that I'm evil, I will slowly bring your numbers down."

"Go ahead and try it, I have over one hundred men under my service right now!" Trae replied.

"I don't intend of attacking your men out in the open; that would be a pretty stupid move on my part. No, I plan to lure them into the Hive. Only a few at a time. I just got back from working on an experiment, actually," Ali said with a smile.

"An experiment? What are you talking about?" Trae asked. He had only thought of Ali as a child who had managed to get included among the aliens, but she was a cunning and crafty individual. His father had a lot of notes about the alien's intelligence, they were supposed to be wicked smart and able to figure a way out of any situation, Trae wondered if Ali had somehow obtained the ability to think as the aliens did. He realized that he had underestimated her and he hoped that he wasn't too late.

"Oh Trae, I can't tell you," Ali's voice said, cutting into his thoughts, "That would ruin the surprise!" Ali said with a laugh, "But you might want to check your numbers and see if anyone is missing." She left the statement hanging in the air but the expression on Trae's face told her that he knew what she meant, "Anyway, this will be more fun, I was hoping it would be. I was thinking of starting off with three men and then bring more and more. I can't wait!" Ali squealed and laughed happily as she thought about the ways to lure the soldiers into her trap.

"I won't let you!" Trae shouted.

"Just try and stop me!" Ali shouted back.

The flap of the tent suddenly opened and a soldier came running in, "Sir!" the soldier shouted before stopping in front of Trae, breathing heavily.

"What is it?" Trae asked, "Can't you see I'm busy!"

"It's Mary, sir," the soldier replied, "She's gone missing!"

Trae turned to look at Ali but she quickly turned away from him.

"Leave solider," Trae said and the soldier saluted before exiting the tent. As soon as he was gone Ali burst out laughing.

"You did this, didn't you?" Trae asked as he grabbed Ali's slender shoulders and spun her around to face him, "What kind of monster are you?!" Trae yelled as he shook Ali.

Ali kept laughing, her eyes sparkling malevolently. Trae couldn't take it anymore, holding on to Ali's shoulder with one hand, he reached for the pocketknife in his back pocket. Taking out the knife, he brought it down in a quick arc, slicing Ali across her throat.

The laughter instantly died in her throat and her eyes widened in shock as she stumbled back, away from Trae. She clutched her throat as black blood poured out. Trae heard a sizzling noise and looked down at his knife. It was glistening with Ali's blood and was starting to smoke. Trae dropped the knife in surprise as the blade began to melt away.

Ali leaned over as her blood poured out of her throat and splashed onto the ground. The ground let out a loud hiss as her blood began burning into it. She fell to her knees as the world began to spin. She felt around until she found the blanket that had fallen from her shoulders. She grabbed it and ripped a strip off and quickly pressed the piece to her throat, forgetting for a moment that her blood would just eat through it. The blood wasn't really gushing out so Ali guessed that the knife hadn't hit her jugular. But she knew that she had to get out of here as quickly as possible, or die. Struggling to her feet, she started to make her way to tent's exit, swaying slightly as she did and held both hands to her throat. Trae was still standing and staring at the spot where his knife had burned away. Ali raised her hand, which was covered in blood, and running at Trae, slashed him in the chest. She could hear him yell as her blood began to eat away at his skin but she didn't linger much longer. Gathering her strength she hurried out of the tent.

One of the soldiers standing by the entrance to the tent shouted something to Ali but she didn't pay attention to what he was saying. She ran out of the compound toward the orphanage, not caring if anyone saw her. She got about halfway there when she started to get dizzy. She fell to her knees again as the world grew black. She tried to take a breath but could only taste blood. She tried screaming but all that came out was a gurgle as blood dripped out of her mouth. She felt herself slipping into darkness and she tried to stay conscious, but couldn't focus as the world went dark around her.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Ali woke screaming with fiery pain shooting up her body. She tried to move but it hurt too much. A large shadow suddenly blocked out the light over Ali's head and she looked up to see a figure standing above her. The figure hissed at her and nudged her gently. But then the figure began to distort as darkness clouded her vision. 

_She ran down a hallway toward the sound of gun firing. Hesitating at a corner, she cautiously peeked out to see what was down the hallway. A body lay on the ground covered in blood. The ground around was covered in blood as well and sizzling. Whoever it was on the ground was still alive as it raised its head. Ali could feel the eyes of the thing looking at her but she couldn't tell what it was from this far away. She stepped closer to see the figure better. But she let out a scream as she looked down at Timothy's torn body._

"No! Timothy!" Ali screamed loudly as she awoke from her dream. Her body not only was in immense pain, but it also felt like it was being burned from the inside. She screamed again as a shadow fell on her. She could feel something cool touch her forehead and she closed her eyes again.

The next night, she was plagued by the same dream. And each time she would arrive too late to save Timothy. And once again, she awoke to terrible pain and fiery heat.

The next night the dreams dwindled down as did the pain and heat. And when Ali awoke from a completely dreamless sleep she found herself in the Hive. There was a large figure lying next to her letting out a slow deep breathing, the sound one makes when asleep. Ali blinked a couple of times and as her vision cleared she saw that it was TJ. His tail was wrapped around her and he had his head in between his front legs. Ali smiled as she looked at him, he looked like a cat. A pain on her neck reminded her of what had happened and she reached up to touch her neck. Rough fabric met her hand as she ran her fingers along her throat. She looked around the Hive and saw more aliens lying around and the Queen but none were near her and TJ. When she looked down she saw that she was on a bed, one of the ones found in the girl's dormitory. A headless bear sat at the head of the bed where a pillow would be. Ali smiled slightly and reached over, taking the bear in her arms. The bear was dirty but the faint outline of a red heart could be seen on the bear's chest. Ali brought the bear close to her and held it tightly to her chest.

Looking down at TJ, Ali wondered how long she had been here and how long he had been caring for her. Moving slowly, Ali started to stand up, trying not to wake TJ. But TJ must have been a light sleeper because he raised his head as Ali climbed out of the bed. TJ opened his mouth wide and his second mouth came out slowly and it opened wide too. Ali smiled slightly as TJ yawned, stretched, and slowly stood up. TJ hissed and started walking over to the Queen.

Ali followed but something caught her eye. Turing to the wall Ali saw Mary, trapped in the sticky cocoon that held her up against the wall. Mary's head hung down, completely unsupported. There was a dark hole surrounded with a ring of dried blood in her chest. Ali started to laugh but stopped as she began coughing. She covered her mouth quickly and waited until she stopped coughing but when she pulled her hand away, she saw it glistening with blood.

_You must take it easy, Mother_, the Queen said and Ali looked up to see her daughter staring down at her, _You have been wounded deeply and must heal._ Ali brought her hand back to her throat and touched the fabric wrapped around it. The fabric wasn't wet so she guessed that she had stopped bleeding.

"But how did you do this?" Ali asked, "I mean how did wrap my neck and stop the bleeding?"

_I did not do anything, you just have the ability to heal quickly because of your alien DNA_, the Queen replied, _But it was TJ that wrapped your neck up. He used the cloth from one of the outfits of our victims and has been caring for you ever since. You are actually quite fortunate. Your injury had become infected after a few minutes in the Hive. TJ thought it would be best if you were not around the Hive in case that was the cause of your infection. Your fever spiked a couple of times and it caused you to have horrible nightmares._

"How long have I been here?" Ali asked

_About three days. Your first night was the worst and the second was not much better. But, luckily, by the third night, your fever had gone down and you stopped having nightmares. TJ stayed with you the whole time, never once leaving your side. _

"How did he know to come and get me, I hadn't reached the orphanage when I collapsed," Ali asked.

_He does not even know how, he just sensed that you were in danger and hurried to your rescue._

Ali turned to TJ and wrapped her arms around her, softly she whispered, "I will protect you with my life. I will not allow what happened to Timothy happen to you."

TJ hissed in reply and rested his head on Ali's shoulder. The memory of Timothy doing the same thing crept into her thoughts and she felt her throat tighten with tears. Pain flared up in her throat and she started coughing. TJ hissed and nuzzled Ali as she continued coughing.

When she stopped, she felt so weak that she could hardly stand. TJ moved closer to her and Ali gratefully wrapped her arm around him. He supported her as she slowly made her way back to the bed. Once there, she fell down and curled into a ball. She reached over and grabbed the bear and held it in her arms as TJ crawled in next to her and wrapped his tail around her again. Ali smiled and she reached up to stroke TJ on the top of his head. She tried to keep her eyes open but it was as if they had suddenly weighed a ton. The last thing she saw as she closed her eyes was TJ's form next to her.

As she drifted off into sleep she was plagued by a horrifying dream. She was running down a white hallway. She looked to her right and saw an alien running alongside her and she instantly knew where she was; she was back in the Company building before Timothy died. Next thing she knew, gun fire split the air and Timothy fell down. She tried screaming but couldn't even open her mouth. The soldiers came closer and closer; Ali tried running but found herself glued to the ground.

Ali awoke screaming with her throat burning. Something touched her and she started hitting at it before realizing it was TJ. TJ hissed gently as if to say it was just a dream. Ali took a deep breath and looked around. It must have been night still because all the aliens were lying in one big group. The Queen's head was hanging down and her egg sac was still. "I guess my daughter spoke too soon when she said my nightmares were over," Ali said with a small smile as she lay back down and closed her eyes. TJ settled back down next to her and soon Ali was surrounded in darkness.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, when Ali awoke, she found herself alone in the bed. She sat up and swallowed but flinched as her throat gave a painful twinge. She looked around the Hive to see that the majority of the aliens had left. And since TJ was nowhere to be found Ali decided to make her way over to the Queen. 

_Good morning Mother. How did you sleep?_ The Queen asked as Ali walked up to her. Ali smiled and sat down in front of her daughter and said, "Not too well. I had another nightmare about Timothy."

_Yes, I heard your screams. But TJ took care of the situation so I did not worry about it too much. Speaking of which, he is out scouting with a few other of my children right now and should be back in a few minutes. _

Ali nodded and looked down at the ground. She could feel her daughter's gaze but she tried hard not to look. Finally the Queen spoke,_Something else is troubling you._

Ali sighed and ran her fingers through her hair before looking up at her daughter, "I've been thinking about Jordan lately."

_You think that you could have saved her?_ The Queen asked.

"Yeah," Ali replied, "I think I could have saved her if I just pulled the facehugger off."

_It is not that simple, Mother,_ the Queen said softly and Ali hung her head, _Even if you pulled the facehugger off, Jordan would still have died. The facehugger attaches itself to a victim with no intention of releasing it until the chestburster is implanted. If the facehugger were removed before then, the victim would die. But it would be painful, much more painful than the chestburster forcing its way out._

Ali's head shot up and the Queen continued, _A facehugger is not just attached to the face of the victim; there is a tube that goes down into the victim's mouth and into their lungs. This is to give the victim oxygen to keep it alive. During that time the facehugger releases an embryo that ends up somewhere in between the lungs. That is when the facehugger falls off. Then the embryo begins to grow into a chestburster. Now, if there was an attempt to remove the facehugger before the embryo is planted, the facehugger will inject an incomplete embryo into the victim. The embryo does not form into a chestburster. Rather, it will stay inside the victim and eat the internal organs; a very slow and painful way to die._

Ali couldn't help but gasp as the Queen finished, "How do you know all that? If you got my memories?"

_Because,_ The Queen and she let out a gurgled laugh, _I am a Queen. Not only did I get your memories and thoughts, but I also have memories of former Queens. It gives me the knowledge to keep my Hive safe._

"So everything that past Queens learned and experienced, you have memories of that? Plus my own?" Ali asked. The Queen nodded her giant head. A screech suddenly sounded from the top of the stairs and TJ, along with four other aliens, came running down the stairs. TJ hurried over as the Queen turned toward him. They talked for a few minutes and then the Queen turned back to Ali.

_Trae and his group of soldiers have arrived, _The Queen said, _They are already in the orphanage but, according to TJ, are moving slowly to avoid an alien ambush. They also do not really know the layout of the orphanage so they do not know where we are._

"I'm going to tear them apart!" Ali said as her eyes filled with malice and hate.

_I think that is the best thing we can do right now. We need to get rid of these intruders as soon as possible._

Ali grinned darkly and said, "Good, because I have been dying to get my hands around Trae's throat!" TJ hissed as well, eager to sink his teeth into the one responsible for Ali's suffering.

Ali walked over to the bed and sat down. She reached up and found the knot that kept the bandage around her neck. She carefully untied it and took the strip of cloth off. Then, slowly, she reached up to touch her throat. She could feel a thick scar under her fingers and she sat there, rubbing it gently.

"Let's go!" Ali said in a deathly quiet voice.

Ali stood up and followed TJ as he led the way to an air duct entrance. Ali stopped when they reached it and looked curiously at TJ he hissed and crouched down low. Ali then understood what he meant. Going through the air ducts would allow them to sneak up, unseen, and surprise the soldiers. But as TJ walked into the air duct Ali hung back as she thought back to the last time she had crawled into the air ducts. The Queen had just burst out and was still small enough to fit inside the air ducts. That was when Timothy and the Queen had killed all the children in the orphanage except for a select few that were used as hosts later on. Just then TJ stuck his head back out of the duct and hissed to Ali. She took a deep breath and followed him inside.

She found that she was able to move around the air ducts without light a lot easier than last time and she was almost as silent as TJ. After five minutes of walking through the air ducts hunched over, Ali and TJ reached a section that was a lot larger. Standing up Ali found herself staring at twelve other aliens hiding out. One of them walked up to TJ and hissed to him. They sat there for a few minutes exchanging hisses to one another until TJ finally came back to where Ali was. He nudged her and walked over to a vent. Ali peered out of the vent and saw four men standing in the room below. They had their backs to the vent and were more concerned on what might come out of the door. Ali smiled and slowly stuck her fingers in the holes of the vent cover. Moving as quietly as she could Ali pushed on the cover. For a while nothing happened but then the cover suddenly jerked forward. Ali managed to get a good hold of it and slowly placed it back in the duct behind her.

Placing her hands on either side of the vent opening, Ali moved quietly and hung her feet over the side. Keeping an eye on the soldiers, she dropped down to the ground. Moving in the shadows, Ali made her way to the door. When she reached the point where the soldiers would have noticed her, TJ let out an ear-splitting hiss. The soldiers turned around in shock. The moment their backs were turned Ali rushed forward and slammed the door shut. One of the soldiers turned back and gave a gurgled gasp as he saw Ali standing there. Then, aliens began pouring out of the opening in the vent. The soldiers fired at the aliens but where in such a panic that they didn't aim and it was easy for the aliens to dodge the bullets and close in on their targets.

Ali turned away to look out the window in the door as the screams began rising into the air. The hallway was deserted but one soldier suddenly came running as the screaming continued. Ali hurried away from the window as the soldier drew closer and gestured back to the vent. The aliens hurried back to the wall and, scaling up it, climbed into the vent. But before Ali could move, the soldier burst the door open and stepped inside.

The soldier didn't notice Ali as she ducked behind the door. He also didn't seem to notice the open vent. He just hurried over to the fallen soldiers. As he crouched down, he started shaking. The bodies were mangled and torn. One of them had a hole through his head; the other had a gaping hole in his chest. Ali giggled softly and slowly shut the door again. As the door handle clicked into place, the soldier quickly stood up and spun around to see what had caused the noise. He froze when he saw Ali standing in front of the closed door and Ali was able to recognize who he was. He was one of the soldiers that had refused to kill her when ordered by Trae. Ali smiled and walked slowly toward the soldier as his gun hung limp at his side. Before Ali could do anything, TJ leapt out of the vent and, with a screech, leapt at the soldier. The soldier turned and started to lift the gun as the alien fell on top of him.

Suddenly, the walls were splattered with acidic blood. The soldier screamed as some of the blood splattered on him. Ali ran toward TJ screaming for him not to be dead. TJ had been impaled through the chest by the gun and had lost a lot of blood, but he was still alive. Ali looked back at the soldier; TJ's blood had completely eaten through his vest and had burned away all the skin, revealing bright white bone.

Ali didn't care what happened to him, all that mattered now was getting TJ back to the Hive. She looked up to the hole and saw two aliens poking their heads out. She gestured to them and they climbed out of the hole and came over to her.

"Take TJ back to the Hive. Make sure he is well looked after," Ali told the aliens.

They nodded in reply and one of them crouched down by TJ. TJ looked up as the two aliens supported him. He hissed to Ali before allowing himself to be taken away by the aliens. Ali understood what TJ was trying to tell her but she wasn't going to listen. TJ wanted her not to go after Trae and the rest of the soldiers until more reinforcements showed up to help.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Ali walked out into the hall, looking both left and right as she tried to figure out where Trae and his men where. An alien walked up behind her and hissed. Ali stared down the hallway for a few minutes without moving, then returned to the room and followed the alien back into the air duct. The aliens left the large area to move through the smaller tunnels of the air ducts. It didn't take long for the aliens to locate the soldiers. And, without a single word or sound to another, the aliens burst out of the air ducts toward the soldiers. 

Chaos quickly took over as the soldiers began firing off at the aliens in pure fright. Trae was the only one who seemed to be in control of the situation, carefully taking aim before firing. Suddenly, an alien came out of nowhere and rammed him in the chest. He flew backward into a wall and started to raise his gun. Before he could fire, a long tail shot out and wacked the gun out of his hands. Scrambling to his feet, Trae took off running; concerned only for his life now and not even caring what happened to the other men.

He ran into a room and attempted to shut the door behind him. But something heavy rammed against it, pitching him away from the door and into the room. He crashed into desks and looked around quickly, noticing that he was in a class room. Trae spun around as the two aliens slowly stepped into the room. They had no need to hurry; there was no other way out. The aliens moved in closer, obviously enjoying the fact that they had Trae cornered.

"Stop!" a voice said near the door. The aliens turned around and Trae looked around them to see Ali standing alone in front of the door. The aliens hissed and continued to approach Trae. But Ali's eyes narrowed and she said, "Trae is mine. Get out!" The two aliens paused once again but this time they didn't continue forward. They turned and walked back to the door. As soon as they were cleared, Ali shut the door. She brought her hand up to her mouth and bit down hard, sinking her teeth into her wrist. As the black blood began to ooze out, Ali moved her hand over the door. The blood dripped on the door handle and Trae watched as the handle burned away. He was now locked inside the room with Ali.

Ali smiled darkly and she stepped forward. Trae could see her excitement reflecting in her eyes. But she stopped before she reached him. Her eyes scanned him up and down and her smile widened.

"I guess I did some damage," she said.

Trae reached over and touched his chest where Ali had slashed him with her blood soaked hand. He remembered how his body had felt like it was on fire as her blood began eating through his skin. Luckily, he was able to wipe the blood off and it hadn't managed to eat all the way through his skin. He looked up at Ali, standing over him and saw a thick scar on her neck. He smiled and said, "How's your neck doing? I hope it didn't give you too much trouble?"

Ali clenched her fist tightly and leapt at Trae. He rolled out of the way as her fingernails scraped into the ground, leaving long gouges on its surface. He scrambled to his feet and scurried away from Ali as quickly as he could.

She laughed and said, "Where are you going Trae? You can't leave yet, we aren't done playing!"

Trae stared at the child in disbelief. He asked, "What is the matter with you? How did you end up this way?"

"You mean your _father_," Ali spat out the word 'father' as though it were a swear word, "never told you what I was? Why it was extremely important that I wouldn't get my memories back?"

"I just thought you had somehow made an alliance with the aliens," Trae replied thinking of a way to distract the girl so he could get out. He saw a cracked window near Ali and he decided to try to get her away from the window so he could use it for his escape.

"An alliance?" Ali asked and she started laughing. But then she started coughing so she stopped laughing. She glared darkly at Trae and then continued, "No, that isn't the reason," Ali said, "I was born with an alien inside of me," Trae paused from his planning as he looked at the girl in shock. She had an alien inside of her? "That's right," Ali continued, "My mother was pregnant with me when she was attacked by a facehugger. I absorbed the baby alien inside my mother and was born instead with the alien's DNA," Ali's smile then faded a little as she continued, "But my mother died during my birth. My father blamed me and refused to speak to me. He treated me like I was something vile. I was all alone in the world, wondering why I was so different from all the other kids."

Trae looked back at Ali for a slight moment and almost felt himself being taken over with pity for her. But he forced those thoughts out of his mind, he had seen what this child was really like; she enjoyed making others suffer. And, before Ali could say anything else, Trae made his move; he ran straight toward Ali and then jumped straight at her, catching her off-guard. She took a step back as Trae came flying towards her but she was able to quickly recover. Trae saw her raise her hand up but was in mid-flight and couldn't control himself as he fell down on top of Ali. Ali fell hard to the ground but kept her hand straight up. Trae felt her sharp nails pierce through his shirt and come into contact with his skin. Her hand went right through where he was injured, where he had hardly any skin because of Ali's blood. He kept falling as Ali's hand stuck straight up, unmoving. Then he opened his mouth slowly and let out a terrible scream.

* * *


	12. The End

Ali watched as her arm vanished into Trae's chest. She could hear his scream and smiled slightly. Trae felt his body continue to travel through Ali's arm but eventually, he slowed down as his body grew ridged. Ali tried to pull her arm out of Trae's chest but it was firmly stuck inside of him. Finally, Ali placed her feet on Trae's chest and pushed her feet up as she pulled her arm down. As her arm pulled free of Trae's chest, dark blood came pouring down on her. She closed her eyes and mouth tightly and kicked the body away from her. It hit a couple of desks and let out a groan. Ali turned sharply when she heard the noise and looked over to see Trae's eyes staring right at her. His breathing was staggered and every time he attempted to breath, blood dripped out of his mouth. Ali smiled and crawled over to where Trae lay. His eyes followed her as she approached and he tried to push himself away. Ali laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm done with you. You are going to die slowly and painfully. And alone." 

With that Ali got up and walked to the door. She raised her foot and kicked the door hard. The door flew off its hinges and crashed into the opposite wall echoing down a deathly silent hallway. Trae knew, deep down, that his men had lost to the aliens. He coughed as he felt blood flow out of his mouth. As the world went dark around him he could hear Ali's dark laugh echoing around him.

Ali walked down the hall, away from Trae's dying form, searching for other aliens. She found a group of them making their way back to the Hive. They were carrying a couple of unconscious soldiers and two injured aliens. Ali hurried to catch up and then walked next to the leader. He turned to her and stared at her for a moment. She understood what he was expecting her to say and so she told him, "Trae is dead; they no longer have a leader."

The alien nodded and turned to a few aliens that weren't carrying anything. He hissed to them and they hissed back before turning and running back down the hall. Ali watched them go and knew instantly what they were going to collect. Sure enough, when the aliens returned, one of them was carrying Trae. Ali looked at him closely and noted that he was dead. She smiled, glad that this was the way that he was going to end; nothing more than food for the new chestbursters.

When they got back to the Hive Ali immediately went on a search for TJ. She found him on the bed where she used to sleep and she hurried over to him. He was sleeping and had a few lengths of brown cloth wrapped tightly around his mid-section. Ali reached out gently and stroked the top of his head. He stirred and looked up. Ali smiled but TJ didn't respond as he turned as he pulled his head away from Ali and turned around. Ali looked at TJ with shock as he turned his back to her and she took a step back.

_Do not worry too much about that Mother,_ Ali turned to look at the alien Queen on her perch.

"What do you mean?" Ali asked. TJ was mad at her for some reason and all her daughter could say was not to worry? Ali couldn't do that.

_He is mad at you because you went on and did not wait for back-up,_ the Queen said gently.

Ali turned around and crouched down in front of the bed, "TJ, I'm really sorry if I worried you. I really should have waited for more aliens to come. I just wanted to kill Trae so badly that I didn't care if my life was in danger."

TJ turned slowly to look at Ali then he turned to the Queen. She cocked her head to the side as she listened then she spoke, _He says that he could never be mad at you. He wants you to promise to listen to what he says sometimes; he is not just saying things for his health, he says them because he cares about you._

Ali smiled and climbed on to the bed. TJ shifted to give her room and she nestled in next to him. As he wrapped his tail around her he let out a gentle hiss. Ali smiled as she drifted off into sleep.

Ali woke up the next morning to see the Hive in a flurry of activity. Ali sat up and stretched as TJ climbed off the bed and stretched out like a cat. But then he flinched in pain. Ali knew that it was his wound that was hurting him. He walked slowly as he tried finding a way to walk without causing himself pain.

Ali waited as the Queen spoke with a few aliens and ran her fingers along the edge of her scar. She liked the way it felt under her fingers. But she thought with disgust that it was a reminder of Trae that would be with her forever. Finally, the aliens speaking to the Queen left and Ali stepped forward.

"What's going on?" Ali asked without waiting for her daughter to speak.

_We are just wiping out all those who know of us. I sent many of my children to the Company building and had everyone there killed. There is no longer any threat to our kind; no one alive knows we exist._

Ali smiled and asked, "Can I go outside or do I need to stay inside?"

_As long as you do not go near the city, you may do whatever you want,_ The Queen said.

Ali turned back to TJ and said, "Come on! Ya want to explore some mountains with me?"

TJ hissed eagerly and slowly followed Ali up the stairs.

Ali burst out of the orphanage and ran joyfully across the empty field. TJ ran alongside her letting out joyful screeches. But as they ran, Ali noticed as TJ ran slower and slower. Finally he stopped and dropped his head as he swung his tail back and forth; he clearly was in a lot of pain. Ali looked around and saw that they were only a few miles away from the Hive, they could get back if they moved slowly. But the wind suddenly picked up and sent both Ali and TJ flying off in different directions. Ali felt herself crash into the ground as the wind seemed to get faster and stronger. She tried moving but was held down by the wind. She looked up and saw a dark object in the sky, moving down to where she and TJ where lying. Ali looked over as TJ stood up and fought the wind as he made his way over to her.

The wind died down as the giant space craft touched the ground. For a while all was still, and then a loud hissing sound split the air as a door on the side of the ship opened; revealing a large figure.

Ali's instincts were telling her to run and get out, but her body wouldn't budge. The figure in the door-way stepped forward and began making its way to Ali and TJ. TJ hissed angrily at the thing as it came closer. It stopped moving and Ali was able to see the figure clearly. It was tall, about a few feet taller than a standing alien, but smaller, much smaller, than a Queen. It was wearing what looked like some type of armor and had a mask over its face. It had weird dreadlocks hanging down around its head. It took another step and a long, dagger like spike suddenly extended from a device around his wrist. The thing let out a loud roar.


End file.
